Blog Tour -- Unmistaken Identity by Marie Johnston

Mara
Baranski is living the fangirl’s dream, running a comic book shop that supports
her and her ailing mother. She is even given the chance to buy the building—for
a dollar. That is, until her dear friend and landlord dies before the sale goes
through. Now Mara has forty-five days to clear out her shop or convince the
resentful son of the old owner to change his mind—if she can only corner him
long enough to ask.

Despite
being abandoned by his father years ago, Wesley inherited all of his dad’s
assets and ambition—but not his gullibility. When the tantalizing woman at his
nightclub turns out to be the woman who scammed his lonely father, he seizes
the chance for a little revenge. But after using a fake name to get close to
his target, Wes is soon coming up with excuses to keep his identity secret a
little longer.

As the forty-five days
count down, Mara’s loyal customers swoop in to help save her store. Even more,
her handsome new boyfriend is making her believe in happy endings again. Too
bad secret identities only last forever in comic books.

She had to
hunt Wesley Robson down tonight, didn’t want to waste more time on her search.
As it was, the night would be too short for decent sleep. Saturday was game day
at her comic book shop. Participants showed early and played intensely for
hours. Board games, card games, electronic games. She would jump in and play
them all, or run around the store helping customers.

It was her
favorite day of the week, but still a long one.

What did
Wesley look like, anyway? She would’ve seen him if she’d been able to go to the
funeral. By the time she’d found out about Sam’s sudden death, though, he’d
been gone and buried. There had to be a picture of his boy online. Just as she
pulled out her phone to do a search, someone settled onto the barstool next to
her.

“Macallan
12.”

The deep
voice resonated through her bones. She almost groaned. He had the rumble of a
rugged man, a primal mating call in her opinion. Admittedly, her last few dates
had put the “boys” in fanboys, not men who knew their way around a woman.

She peeked
at him from the corner of her eye. Her fingers tightened around the stem of her
glass.

Holy
hotness, Batman! He reminded her of one of her favorite superheroes. Jet-black
hair, sky-blue eyes nearly glowing under the club lights, wide shoulders. If he
wore a cape and had a large S on his
shirt, she’d sit on his face. She’d still consider it, given his charcoal
slacks and white-striped shirt, which likely had been cinched by a tie all day.
The first two buttons were undone and his sleeves were rolled up. What was that
style called? Industrial hot-as-hell businessman.

“What’s
your poison?”

She shot
him a surprised glance. He gestured to her already half-empty glass.

What had
the bartender said it was? “I think it’s named after some rapper.”

He
chuckled with genuine humor. “Are you here with the bachelorette party?”

When hell
froze over. “No.”

The
bartender leaned over the counter to hand him his drink. “The lady said she was
looking for the owner.”

Stay out of it, dude. Wait, he knew the total package next
to her? Maybe the new arrival also knew the owner. “Do you know Mr. Robson?”

His eyes
crinkled with his smile. Even the man’s teeth were perfect. “Why would you want
to find him? I’ve heard he’s an ass.”

She rolled
her eyes. “Tell me about it.”

Hotness
savored a long sip of his…whatever a Macallan was. “You’ve gotta tell me what
he did to you.”

The pink
bangs that framed her face dropped into her eyes. She feathered them away. His
gaze traced from her hand to her dual ponytails, the plain brown hair streaked
with pink. Instead of blond highlights, or lowlights, or whatever stylish women
did, she’d chosen pink—because it was fun and girly. One of the few splurges
she allowed herself.

Her hair
often drew attention, not always the flattering kind. But she enjoyed his.
“He’s shutting down my store. Tearing down the whole damn building.
‘Upgrading.’” She gave the last word air quotes.

His right
eye twitched and he stared at her for a heartbeat. Humor drained from his
expression and his gaze narrowed slightly.

Her heart
rate increased at being the object of such scrutiny. She wanted more, but she
also felt like she’d done something wrong.

Finally, a
grin curled his full lips. “That bastard.”

Tasty Q&A with Marie
Johnston

If you had to title your own life what
would it be and why?

Tales of an
Insecure Mom

What is their favorite place to
visit?

Favorite
town: Fargo. It’s nothing like the show! We don’t want to admit it, but I’ve
heard people talk exactly like the movie. Usually when I go there, all I want
to hit up are restaurants.

Favorite
place: Greasy diners. It brings me great joy to find a place that serves a
perfect burger. I’m not talking about a fancy patty seasoned to the gills, with
a whole wheat bun, served on a bed of lettuce. I want a plain burger with the
grease that soaks into a buttered and toasted white bun and soaks into my mouth
when I take the first bite. And nothing but ketchup decorates my burger.

Favorite writing place.

There’s a
Classic Rock coffee shop in town. The place is dark like a bar, but not as
loud. Best of all, they have booths. I used to go there and write during
preschool until my stomach said no more caffeine. I’m back together with
caffeine, and when preschool resumes, my butt will be planted in one of those
booths, and I will be happily typing away.

What did you enjoy most about writing
this book?

The little
twist about halfway through. I was writing my critique partner about the plot
and brought up a “what if…” She said OMG—DO IT!! The twist is subtler that I
imagined it, but it’s a major factor in their character arcs.

What gave you the most trouble with
this story?

I entered
this manuscript into several contests and many judges felt the hero wasn’t likeable.
My editor got her hands on it and said I had to peel him back like an onion. I
panicked. I had such a solid picture of him—did I not translate it well? Of
course, in my head, he’s clearly a guy torn up by his father’s rejection and
riddled with righteous anger over the girl he thought was trying to con his
dad. And in the beginning, he was a jacka$$ with devious intentions, so I
didn’t want to soften him too much. So, I used a light touch in my edits and my
beta readers approved, but I still worry my vision of Wes Robson didn’t
translate and readers won’t root for like I do. I’ve started the second book in
the series and Wes makes an appearance and I’m just really proud of the
character he became.

Where did the inspiration for this
book come from?

I wanted to
do my Midwest take on the billionaire bad boy romance. But I don’t travel much
anymore, much less to any big cities. I haven’t lived in a city larger than
100K. And what do I know about being rich? So, I ruminated over different story
lines and when the comic book shop came to mind—jackpot. I mean, it’s like I’ve
prepared for this story my whole life. I’m a fangirl by proxy. My brother’s a
Marvel guy and while growing up, I watched Star Trek with him. My husband is a
DC guy and out-Treks my brother. Our date nights include superhero movies and I
know to never, ever crinkle a comic book.

What do you like best about being a
writer? What is the most challenging part?

As a career,
I love the flexibility of being a writer. I’m the hub my family circles around
and when I worked full-time and part-time, our chaos was almost unmanageable.
As far as the craft, I just love writing, especially when I get into a groove
and words are flowing and I don’t have to pop into thesaurus.com constantly.
It’s a gigantic challenge finding time to write because it feels like everyone
else’s activities come before my work. But in the end, that’s why I do this, to
be around for my family.

Marie
Johnston writes
paranormal and contemporary romance and has collected several awards in both genres.
Before she was a writer, she was a microbiologist. Depending on the situation,
she can be oddly unconcerned about germs or weirdly phobic. She’s also a
licensed medical technician and has worked as a public health microbiologist
and as a lab tech in hospital and clinic labs. Marie’s been a volunteer EMT, a
college instructor, a security guard, a phlebotomist, a hotel clerk, and a
coffee pourer in a bingo hall. All fodder for a writer!! She has four kids, an
old cat, and a puppy that’s bigger than half her kids.